Mr BURKE - 1994-11-30
In May this year, the Treasurer brought down the 1994-95 Northern Territory budget. At the time, he gave an undertaking to resign if a mini-budget or an ERC process took place following the Territory election. Will there be a mini-budget and is his current term in government likely to be foreshortened?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, members will be aware that, when I brought down the budget before the last Territory election, the Leader of the Opposition ran around town speaking with anybody who would stand still long enough to listen. He predicted doom and gloom, that the budget would not stack up, that there would be a mini-budget and that the ERC was just around the corner in 1994. I offered to resign, not only as Treasurer but indeed from politics, if that proved to be the case. We asked the Leader of the Opposition to give a similar assurance on his part if his predictions did not come true. A very skilled group of journalists attempted to obtain that kind of commitment from him. It was a little like attempting to get into his wallet, and they had no success. He would not give any such undertaking. I can inform members ...
Mr Ede: My wallet is in about the same state as your Treasury.
Mr COULTER: You simply do not have the commitment. You do not believe in what you are saying.
We have just had the first budget review, and I can inform the Assembly that the Northern Territory's 1994-95 budget is well and truly on track. There will be no mini-budget and no ERC-type doom and gloom, as the Leader of the Opposition predicted. That gives him a major problem.
Mr Ede: We will just blow our debt out further.
Mr COULTER: You talk about getting further into debt, but Bernie Fraser is saying that the $18 000m deficit in the federal budget is a shambles - it simply cannot stack up - that the wage blow-outs at 15%, which people are talking about, are unsustainable and that wage increases have to be at 2% and 3%. In relation to the growth predicted in the federal budget, the Prime Minister says that we should not worry about it, that we are in sustained economic growth now and that the deficit will disappear as the economy improves. Personally, I do not believe we are in sustained economic development mode at themoment - there are no big projects around - that there is no the level of investment confidence that people believe there is, that our imports will continue to rise and that we
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will have higher interest rates as a result. I believe the federal economy is not as healthy as members might believe from what the federal government says.
The other activity in which the Leader of the Opposition has been wont to indulge from time to time is to rubbish the Northern Territory's accounts by saying that the government does not know what it is talking about, that it has things nowhere near right and that it is not providing information in the correct manner etc. From time to time, the Leader of the Opposition quotes a Professor Bob Walker who is a little star in his eyes.
Mr Ede: When?
Mr COULTER: When? I will look up the Parliamentary Record for him and remind him. I recall that, when he was discussing accrual accounting in this House, he quoted Professor Bob Walker on a number of occasions.
Mr Ede: Yes. I agree with him in relation to accrual accounting, but certainly we do not see eye to eye on everything.
Mr COULTER: Good. For those who do not know, Professor Bob Walker is in fact ...
Mr Ede: I will take him aside and give him a little instruction on some of the finer points later.
Mr COULTER: You would be flat out doing that. It would be like a first grader talking to a third grader because he happens to be the youngest accounting professor ever appointed in Australia. He was with the University of New South Wales. Members of the Public Accounts Committee would be aware of his standing.
In the New Accountant, Professor Walker scored various aspects of reporting procedures. He divided the scorecard into 11 sections, ranging from whole-of-government disclosures through availability of documents to the time limits of documents. I am pleased to say that the Territory received 8 ticks in the 11 sections, including for Auditor-General access, off-budget disclosures and 'use of expenditure' disclosures. We did not receive a tick for the 'capital versus current' section or the supplementary area as it was not relevant to the section. No state received a tick for the reporting of ministerial expenditure, an area in which he criticised all governments across Australia. I draw the attention of members to the Chief Minister's annual report which lists each minister's ministerial expenditure.
I table this document from the New Accountant because I believe it is a great scorecard for the Northern Territory to receive from such an eminent person as Professor Bob Walker. It indicates that we are providing our accounts ahead of all the other states. In fact, Tasmania and the Northern Territory received the top rating, and New South Wales and Victoria were the dunces of the pack. For once, I would like the Leader of the Opposition to stand up and admit that he was wrong.
Mr Ede: I was not.
Mr COULTER: I have done it and it is not shameful ...
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Mr Ede: Yes, you were wrong. You reckoned that it was all some kind of conspiracy.
Mr COULTER: You were wrong. Did you or did you not say that there would be a mini-budget or an ERC?
Mr Ede interjecting.
Mr COULTER: Be serious! Did you or did you not say that? You did, and you were wrong! Just for once, will you stand up and admit it? You will be a better man. It will not hurt - just do it.
Mr Ede interjecting.
Mr COULTER: He should show people that he is a person of conviction and that, sometimes in his great oracular utterances, he makes mistakes. This was one of them. Until he can do that, nobody will believe him about anything.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, members will be aware that, when I brought down the budget before the last Territory election, the Leader of the Opposition ran around town speaking with anybody who would stand still long enough to listen. He predicted doom and gloom, that the budget would not stack up, that there would be a mini-budget and that the ERC was just around the corner in 1994. I offered to resign, not only as Treasurer but indeed from politics, if that proved to be the case. We asked the Leader of the Opposition to give a similar assurance on his part if his predictions did not come true. A very skilled group of journalists attempted to obtain that kind of commitment from him. It was a little like attempting to get into his wallet, and they had no success. He would not give any such undertaking. I can inform members ...
Mr Ede: My wallet is in about the same state as your Treasury.
Mr COULTER: You simply do not have the commitment. You do not believe in what you are saying.
We have just had the first budget review, and I can inform the Assembly that the Northern Territory's 1994-95 budget is well and truly on track. There will be no mini-budget and no ERC-type doom and gloom, as the Leader of the Opposition predicted. That gives him a major problem.
Mr Ede: We will just blow our debt out further.
Mr COULTER: You talk about getting further into debt, but Bernie Fraser is saying that the $18 000m deficit in the federal budget is a shambles - it simply cannot stack up - that the wage blow-outs at 15%, which people are talking about, are unsustainable and that wage increases have to be at 2% and 3%. In relation to the growth predicted in the federal budget, the Prime Minister says that we should not worry about it, that we are in sustained economic growth now and that the deficit will disappear as the economy improves. Personally, I do not believe we are in sustained economic development mode at themoment - there are no big projects around - that there is no the level of investment confidence that people believe there is, that our imports will continue to rise and that we
Page 350
will have higher interest rates as a result. I believe the federal economy is not as healthy as members might believe from what the federal government says.
The other activity in which the Leader of the Opposition has been wont to indulge from time to time is to rubbish the Northern Territory's accounts by saying that the government does not know what it is talking about, that it has things nowhere near right and that it is not providing information in the correct manner etc. From time to time, the Leader of the Opposition quotes a Professor Bob Walker who is a little star in his eyes.
Mr Ede: When?
Mr COULTER: When? I will look up the Parliamentary Record for him and remind him. I recall that, when he was discussing accrual accounting in this House, he quoted Professor Bob Walker on a number of occasions.
Mr Ede: Yes. I agree with him in relation to accrual accounting, but certainly we do not see eye to eye on everything.
Mr COULTER: Good. For those who do not know, Professor Bob Walker is in fact ...
Mr Ede: I will take him aside and give him a little instruction on some of the finer points later.
Mr COULTER: You would be flat out doing that. It would be like a first grader talking to a third grader because he happens to be the youngest accounting professor ever appointed in Australia. He was with the University of New South Wales. Members of the Public Accounts Committee would be aware of his standing.
In the New Accountant, Professor Walker scored various aspects of reporting procedures. He divided the scorecard into 11 sections, ranging from whole-of-government disclosures through availability of documents to the time limits of documents. I am pleased to say that the Territory received 8 ticks in the 11 sections, including for Auditor-General access, off-budget disclosures and 'use of expenditure' disclosures. We did not receive a tick for the 'capital versus current' section or the supplementary area as it was not relevant to the section. No state received a tick for the reporting of ministerial expenditure, an area in which he criticised all governments across Australia. I draw the attention of members to the Chief Minister's annual report which lists each minister's ministerial expenditure.
I table this document from the New Accountant because I believe it is a great scorecard for the Northern Territory to receive from such an eminent person as Professor Bob Walker. It indicates that we are providing our accounts ahead of all the other states. In fact, Tasmania and the Northern Territory received the top rating, and New South Wales and Victoria were the dunces of the pack. For once, I would like the Leader of the Opposition to stand up and admit that he was wrong.
Mr Ede: I was not.
Mr COULTER: I have done it and it is not shameful ...
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Mr Ede: Yes, you were wrong. You reckoned that it was all some kind of conspiracy.
Mr COULTER: You were wrong. Did you or did you not say that there would be a mini-budget or an ERC?
Mr Ede interjecting.
Mr COULTER: Be serious! Did you or did you not say that? You did, and you were wrong! Just for once, will you stand up and admit it? You will be a better man. It will not hurt - just do it.
Mr Ede interjecting.
Mr COULTER: He should show people that he is a person of conviction and that, sometimes in his great oracular utterances, he makes mistakes. This was one of them. Until he can do that, nobody will believe him about anything.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016